Execution is everything. The success of a screenplay is not only in the premise and the plot but in how the story is told.

Over the course of six evening classes, the programme will cover a recap of how dramatic tension works. Then you will look at how to write and rewrite a scene. It will then go into detail and give feedback on key scenes, i.e. Opening Scene, Inciting Incident, Beginning of ACT II, Midpoint, End of ACT II, Final Scene. By the end of it, each participant should have key scenes workshopped and polished and know how do the same work on every part of the story.

Mary Kate O Flanagan is a writer and story consultant, who works internationally, helping to shape stories by emerging and established screenwriters. She designs and delivers training in the craft of screenwriting in Ireland, across Europe and in Africa. She is also a working screenwriter and has won two pan-European awards for her screenwriting. She holds an MA in Screenwriting, is a published short story writer and a Grand Slam Champion Storyteller at The Moth in Ireland. She is also a Grand Slam Champion Storyteller at The Moth in Los Angeles.

She has given workshops on screenwriting and character, in Prague, Plzen, Malta, Cologne, Lodz, Ljublana, North Wales, London, Cork, Galway as well as Dublin where she is based. She has also given screenwriting workshops in in South Africa, Botswana and in The US. She is a guest lecturer at The National Film School of Ireland.

Mary Kate’s work with writers is in the tradition of Frank Daniel, which uses a Socratic approach to enquire into the writers intentions and help to realise them as well as possible.

“I would rank Mary Kate on the highest international level in terms of her knowledge of filmmaking, her contributions to the creative process, and her expertise in dealing with screenwriters”. Philip La Zebnik. Screenwriter: Mulan, Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt.